Air-brake system.



P. COMERFORD.

AIR BRAKE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. H, I913,

Patented May 4, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

m i [mew or THE NORRIS PETERS 00., PHO1C-LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D4 C.

P. COMERFORD.

AIR BRAKE SYSTEM.

APPLICATJON FILED APR. 1!. I913.

1,138, 1 98., Patented May 4, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS 50., PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON,

P. COMERFORD.

AIR BRAKE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, I913.

1 ,1 38,193o Patented May 4, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- 7H? NORRIS PblLa'S c0 PHoTc-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. cv

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. a V

PATRICK COMERFORJ D, OF VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA,.ASSIGNOR TO SAFETY FIRST AIR BRAKE GOMRANY, 01E" SEATTLR'WASHINGTON.

- AIR-BRAKE SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1915.

Application'fi1ed Apri111, 19-13. Serial No. 760,559.

To all whom it may concern a I Be it known'that I, PATR'IOKC MERFORD,

is a full, true, and exact specification.

This invention relates to air brake systems, and has for its principal object to generally improve and simplify the same, to the end that an application of the brakes, suflicient to stop the entire train, can at all times be made, so long as there is air in the main reservoir, despite previously repeated applications of the brakes and the resultant depletion of the air within the auxiliary reservoirs; that a single engineers valve only is necessary, which is common to both the automatic and the straight air portions of the system; that unavoidable leakages in the joints of the train pipes are compensated for so that accidental intermittent applications of the brakes is effectually prevented.

Other objects and features will appear as the invention is more fully hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view, of that portion of the system which is positioned beneath the engine and tender, with parts broken away. Fig. 2 is a similar view in side elevation. Fig. 3 is an endelevation of that portion of Fig. 2 which lies above the line wm, looking from right to left, and with parts omitted. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of one of the air distributors, and its associated parts, with parts broken away. Fig- 5 is a fragmentary end elevation of Fig. 4, looking from right to left. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the same looking in the opposite direction. 1

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 1 designates the main reservoirs, which may be of the usual form, and which are kept constantly filled with air by means of the compressor, indicated at 2. The pipe 3 connects the said reservoirs to each other and the pipe 3. connects the compressor to one of the said reservoirs. 'I have shown two of the main reservoirs 1, for the reason that the air is somewhat heated as it passes from the compressor to the nearest reservoir, and as the air passes through the pipe 3 and into the other reservoir it more nearly assumes its original I temperature. t is understood, however, thatI do not confine myself to a plurality of the said reservoirs. Extending from one of the said reservoirs is the pipe 4 which is led to and communicates with the engineers valve 5 the various turns in the said pipe 4 being accomplished by means of suitable elbows such as shown at 5. Extending downwardly from the engineers valve is the pipe 6 which communicates with the straight air pipe 7, the latter extending throughout the entire length of the train, including the locomotive and tender. The pipe 7 is connected to the air distributers 8, by means of the pipes 9. The said distributers are in the form of hollow cylinders, the ends of which are closed by means of the plates '10, bolted at 10 to the flange 11, upon one of the ends of the said distributer, and the caps 11 which are similarly bolted, at 12 to the opposite end of the distributers. The main body of each distributer is of smaller diameter than that of the said caps, and to one of the ends of each of the distributers is connected a pipe 13, which communicates with the auxiliaryair reservoirs 14.

Extending from the cap 11 and the main body of the distributer, are the brackets 15, by means of which the said distributors may be secured to the under side of the coaches. Slidable within the main body of the distributer is. the hollow piston 16, around which may be suitable packing rings, as indicated at 17. The right hand end of the said piston is open with respect to the interior of the distributer, and the'opposite end of the piston is closed by the end wall 18, which extends beyond the limits of the said piston and is slidable within the cap 11*, the packing rings 19 being provided around the periphery of the said piston, to prevent leakage therefrom. At the center of the said end wall may be the projection 20 which is adapted to contact with the cap 21 which covers one end of the buffer spring 21, during the sliding movement of the said piston, andthe opposite end of the said spring bears against the screw cap 21". Within one side of the cap 11 and the main body of the dis tributer is the bypass 22, one end of which communicates with the annular groove, indicated at 23, around the piston 16, and its opposite end communicates with the inte- I small aperture indicated at 24. The annular groove 23 communicates, by means of the small Opening 25, with the interior of the I hollow piston 16, so that if the said piston should at any time turn with respect to the distributer, communication would neverthe lessbe lnaintained between the interior of the cap 11 and the interior of the. said piston. Connected to each of the said dis- ,tributersare the pipes 26 which also communicate. with" the cylinders 27, within which are. the helical springs 28, of, which one. end of each bears against an end wall 29 of a cylinder 28, and the opposite end of the spring bears'against aipiston head 30,. extending from which-is the stem 31, which is connected, in any approved manner, to the brake beam. The straight air line extends throughout the entire length of the train and, the distributers 8, and their described connections, occur on each'car;

, tur'es of thepipes 9L and 26. with the'distributers' 8 are near each other, (.seeFig; 4)r and around the hollow piston 16 is the rather wide annularrecess, indicated at 32, whereby the pipes9 and26 are always in free communication with each other when the parts are in the positions shown in. Fig.4, and,

when the parts are "so: positioned, it is clear that, by turning the lever 33 of the engineers valve..5 the air from the main reservoir 1 is free to flow directly from the main reservoir straight to the brake cylinders 27. It is not thoughtthat any particular description of the .engineers valve is here necessary for the reason that it differs in no way from any such valve and the sole function. of which is to direct the flow of air" from the pipe 4 into either the pipes 35 or 6,. and. to

vent either of the said pipes. Extending also th'roughout the entire length of the train 'is the automatic line 34, which is connected, by means of the pipe. 35, to, the: engineers valve5 By. means of the fitting 36 the branch'pipe 37.i isgconnected to the pipe 35, and the said. branch turnedat; 37 and 3.7", and} finally connected to. theengineers val ve 5 38, indicates a check. valve'in the branch pipe 37, and 39 indicates a reducing, valve.

Communicating with the pipes 6,; 4 .and, 35 respectively, are the pipes L0, to'th upper end of each of which. is connecteda suitable gagesuch as shown at 41., The automatic line 34 is connected to the various. caps 11 by means .of'the pipes42.

The operation ofthe. device is" as follows:

the pipe 35, into the pipe 34, through the pipe 42, and thence into the. caps ,11% The '16 into its position asshown in Fig. 4, which allows the air tofeed on through the narrow opening 24, into the bypass 22, thence into the annular channel 23, through the open- 'ing 25 into the hollow piston 16, and finally out through'the pipe 13 and into the auxiliary reservoir 14. Air is forced through theroute just traced, until the indicator upon the gage 41 which is connected to. the

seen in Fig; 4', because the face of the end wall 18;which lies within the cap 11 is larger than that. face which is exposedto the pressure of the air from within the hollowpiston 16. Due to the check valve 38 the air cannot return through the pipe, 37 but. must be vented by allowing it to pass out through the upper end. of the pipe 35 and through the engineers valve 5. The pressure within the main reservoir, is, say 90 lbs, and for this reason the reducing valve '39 is. used to produce the pressure of -pounds within the auxiliaryreservoirs 14.

From the foregoing it is; clear that there can be no dragging of thebrakes, due to; any movement of the hollow pistons 16, as the brake beam, which causes an undesirable chattering of the brakes against the traction wheels, and; a resultant loss of power- The reason for this is that in systems-nowknown tothe art, so far "as I amaware, the member which correspondsto: the hollow piston 16,

is. too sensitive, andthesmallrlea-ks which are unavoidablein the numerousfljoints'in the train-- lineand its connections, are intermittentlyopened and closed the jar upon. the Tcoaches when'the: train is running. i L The operation. of the-automatic: air is that,

as the fluid pressure is reduced withirrthe pipe- 35, eitherby the operation of theengi-.

Y neersvalveg or by; aparting of the train and resultant rupture of the pipe 34, or; other cause, the pressure upon. the-left hand face of theend wall 18 iscorresp ondingly reduced,

whichallowsthe hollow piston 16 to move to the left, because of the greater pressure on the right hand face-thereofi u-ntil the projectiom20- contacts with the. buffer spring 21 which allows. the air within the auxiliaryreservoir 14 to: pass through the pipe 13., intothe hollow cylinder 81 out pipe 35 rests. at a pressure; of say 7 0 pounds. It will ;,be' seen that, notwithstanding the pressureon both sides of the end'wall 18 is the same, nevertheless the piston 16 will al-' waysbe positively held in its position as through the pipe 26 to the brake cylinder 27,

which instantly causes a setting of the brake.

In the operation of my improved system there is absolutely no need of causing the automatic portion thereof to be brought into use at any time, by the operation of the engineers valve, because the entire train can be instantly brought to a full stop, and otherwise fully controlled by means of the straight air line 7, which I will now describe. I

The straight air line 7 is normally kept vented, and when it becomes necessary to put on the brakes, either to slow down the train or to entirely stop it, all that is necessary is to operate the lever 33 of the engineers valve 5 so as to allow the air from the pipe 4 to flow into the pipe 6, thence into the pipe 7, upwardly through the pipe 9, into the wide annular channel 32, and finally into the pipes 26 and cylinders 27.

In the systems now known to the art, so far as I am aware, the automatic air is used to control the brakes, when it is desired to bring the entire train to a stop, for the reason that the straight air acts only upon the wheels of the engine and tender and is not suflicient to stop the entire train. It frequently occurs that, in the use of the systems now in vogue, the air in the auxiliary reservoirs becomes completely exhausted from repeated applications, and necessity immediately thereafter arises for bringing the train to a full stop, which, of course, is impossible because there is no air left in the auxiliary reservoir and the straight air system only affects the wheels of the engine and tender and can not therefore be relied upon to stop the train. In my improved system it is clear that no such state of affairs could ever exist, because the train can always be stopped so long as there is air in the main reservoir.

The use of the check valve 38 intermediate the auxiliary reservoirs 1e and the compressor 2, manifestly allows repairs to the compressor, should the same become inoperative from any cause, and these repairs could be made without stopping the train.

Attention is called to the fact that during the operation of the straight air, the automatic air may be applied at any time. For example, the conductor, or other person within any of the coaches, may apply the automatic air at any time, notwithstanding the fact that the engineer may, at the same time be applying the straight air to control his train in descending a grade, or for other cause. I

WVhile I have shown and described a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I do not, therefore, desire to be limited to the exact form hereinabove described and shown in the accompanying drawings.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

The combination in an air-brake system having both straight and automatic air lines, of a hollow piston having unequal faces and an annular channel around the said piston with which the said straight air line communicates, the said piston being acted upon by the air in an automatic line to normally prevent movement of the piston, a pipe which leads from the working chamber of the said piston to the brake cylinder and which is adapted to be placed in communication with a straight air-line pipe by means i of said annular channel around said piston.

PATRICK COMERFORD.

Witnesses:

FRED P. GORIN, EDWARD RICHMOND HUMPHREY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing. the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

